


from ash

by blackwatch-jess (KessijaScene)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Dramatic Irony, Father-Son Relationship, Gabriel Reyes deserves the world, Gen, Morrison/Reyes is only mentioned in passing and it's sad, directly after events of Recall, not romantic - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 21:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8029606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KessijaScene/pseuds/blackwatch-jess
Summary: McCree has been haunted by his decision to leave Blackwatch for seven years. The death of his former commander and friend Gabriel Reyes weighs heavy on his shoulders. Amidst his regrets, a sound calls out, and from the ashes comes a chance to right the wrongs from his past once again.





	from ash

**Author's Note:**

> This is a look at Jesse and Gabe's relationship from Blackwatch, and McCree's thoughts following his leaving Blackwatch. I'm exhausted of abusive Gabriel fics, so I wanted to paint Reyes in a different light that I think may be truer to canon. I hope you enjoy!

It burned in his bones, the memories from Blackwatch. They weren’t all bad. In fact, most of them filled his belly with warmth and sent his head spinning in a frenzy, much to his chagrin. He wanted to believe that leaving it behind was the best decision he’d made in years. But the way it kept him up at night, some seven years later, he knew he was fooling himself.

The bed underneath him creaked as he tossed the sheets off his body and sat up. He scrubbed his face with his hand and looked down at the floor. He was somewhere in the Appalachians, the name of the sleepy college town long forgotten in favor of rest that never came. He pulled himself to his feet and moved to the balcony, pulling open the sliding door. The air was cool and thin, and mountains rolled up on either side of him. He loved the easy green mountains of the east. They had always hid him well.

Jesse leaned against the railing, the metal chilly against his bare skin. He chewed his lip, considering moseying back inside for a cigarette, but never moved to get one. The moon lit up the edges of the mountains, past the orange streetlights’ reach, and his heart squeezed tight as he thought of what nights like these used to be like.

_“Hey.”_

_He knew that voice, knew it well. Jesse didn’t even turn his head as the man sidled up next to him, leaning against the railing beside him. Their shoulders touched, and they were content to sit in silence for a moment. Jesse fished his carton of cigarettes out from the pocket, taking it between his teeth so gently he almost dropped it. He flicked his lighter and took a deep drag; while he stuffed his lighter away, he let the smoke roll out of the corners of his lips._

_“Should probably quit that.”_

_Jesse cracked a smile. How many times had he heard that one?_

_“You’re probably right.” He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and blew out the rest of the smoke. “But you and I both know it’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens.”_

_Gabriel chuckled to himself, rumbling in his chest as he smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Damn hardhead.” He looked at Jesse, eyes warm. He noticed a few greys in Gabe’s hair, and it made his heart ache. Blackwatch had that effect on people. But Jesse knew it was more than that. They all knew._

_His throat burned with a million questions, but Jesse only asked, “So how are things?” His words were light when he spoke them, but they both could feel the implications heavy in the air between them._

_Gabriel sighed, looking back over the railing. They were in the mountains again. They would head farther east soon, on the trail of a smuggling ring pushing drugs, guns and people up and down I-95. They were running things from New York to Florida, and Morrison had barked out the order that they shut it down immediately. “You know Jack,” he hummed, his attempt at a humorous lilt falling flat._

_“Shit, Gabe,” Jesse breathed. “Blackwatch has gone to hell in a fuckin’ handbasket. Someone up there needs to_ help. _” He took another pull off his cigarette, blowing smoke at the setting sun. “We’re about the only two decent sons of bitches left.”_

_Reyes smiled, weariness etched along his features. “Don’t I know it, hijo.” Jesse’s frustrations quieted slightly at that. “Hard to run around, acting like nothing’s wrong, like your people aren’t killing each other right under your nose.” Gabe’s eyes were glazed. He looked so tired. “It’s getting ugly.”_

_“I know.” Jesse shifted his weight off his bad knee, scraping the toe of his boot along the ground. They settled back into silence, both of them uneasy. McCree finished his cigarette, dropping it and crushing it with his heel. He leaned into Gabe’s shoulder again. “How are y’all?”_

_“Just told you.” Gabe leaned back against McCree._

_“No. I mean…” Jesse gestured vaguely with his hands. “You know..._ y’all. _” He busied himself by taking another cigarette out._

_Gabe smiled another sad smile. “There hasn’t been a ‘y’all’ in a long time, hijo.”_

_Jesse felt his heart shatter in his chest. “Fuck, Gabe, I-I didn’t…”_

_“Don’t worry. Didn’t expect you to know. Plus who would? I’d follow that man into the fire, even now.” His eyes sparkled a little. He threw his arm around Jesse, tugging him tight against his side. “Besides, I got my boy. Don’t need anyone else.”_

_McCree grinned at that, putting his arms around Reyes and lifting him over his head. Jesse laughed while Gabe strung curses together, ordering him to put him down. By the time he did, they were both breathless with laughter and the moon was rising behind them._

Jesse’s eyes watered a little, and he raked his hands through his hair. Goddamn, what he’d give to see Gabe again. Hell, he’d even pay to see Morrison at this point. He never got to give that asshole a piece of his mind. McCree played over the day he resigned, watching Gabriel’s eyes glaze over with that tired look again. He thought about how fucking _lost_ Gabe looked, knowing he was losing the last friend he had in the fight. He begged Reyes to leave with him. The fighting was getting worse every day, and whoever had a hold on the rogue agents were only sinking their talons in tighter. But Gabe shook his head, said someone had to clean up the mess, and that’s what he was there for.

_Jesse exploded, slamming his fists down, tears damn near running down his face. “You ain’t their goddamn maid, Gabriel! They take and they take from you and don’t give you nothing back! They’re gonna fucking kill you at this rate, Reyes!” He was shaking. Gabriel just watched him with that same tired look, blinking owlishly. “Please, Gabe.”_

_“I’ll pass your resignation on to Strike-Commander Morrison.” He said it like a fucking machine. Jesse chewed his lip to keep from crying._

_“Yes, sir.”_

These days, the decision still kept Jesse up at night. He’d been a fucking coward, leaving Reyes behind like that. He’d packed up and left, and Gabriel had stayed, clinging to the frayed edges of Blackwatch like a lifeline.

“A captain goes down with his ship,” Jesse muttered bitterly. He trudged back into his room and pulled the pack of cigarettes from his discarded jeans. Tucking one between his teeth, he searched for his lighter, head swimming with memories of Gabe.

As he checked the pockets of his hoodie, he heard a chirp from his duffel. Fingers closed around the lighter, McCree’s blood ran cold. He whipped his head around, and when his eyes landed on his phone sitting silently on his nightstand, the color drained from his face. His hands shook as moved across the floor and opened the pocket that hadn’t been touched in seven long years.

He pulled the old Overwatch communicator out from it’s tomb, stone suddenly rolled back as the screen flashed up at him. The word ‘RECALL’ in big red letters glared up at him. He stared at that word for what felt like hours. When he tapped the screen, it whisked the word away and was replaced with coordinates. Rusty gears turned in his brain, and he remembered: Gibraltar. It’d been seven years since he’d left, even longer than that since he’d been stationed at the watchpoint with Gabe.

_Gabe._

Jesse swallowed the lump in his throat. He pocketed the communicator, and he stood up, making his way back to the balcony. With trembling hands, he lit the forgotten cigarette in his mouth. He pulled the ash into his lungs and let it burn there. When he exhaled, he closed his eyes. He could see Reyes as clear as day behind his eyelids, could see that dumb scowl he wore to spook the recruits, could see him pushing Peacekeeper in her box across the desk towards him, could see everything like it’d been just yesterday. And it burned so bitterly in his chest, that when the man that gave him everything needed him, he’d been no better than Morrison when he turned his back on Gabe and resigned.

“God,” he huffed, eyes stinging with tears. There was a knot in his chest. He’d never said it. “I’m sorry, Gabriel.” He ground his teeth together. He took another drag off his cigarette before flicking it, unfinished, over the railing. As he stood there, it became painstakingly obvious what he had to do.

Jesse marched back inside, packing his clothes back into the duffel bag. He slipped back into his jeans and his armor. Peacekeeper rested on his hip with a weight that eased any doubts in his mind. He pulled his serape around his shoulders, setting his hat on his head. The familiarity of it all felt surreal. A goddamn recall. It wouldn’t be the same without Gabriel by his side, but that only made him tighten his jaw. He sighed before murmuring quietly to the air, “I’ll do right by you this time. I swear.”

The door to the room shut with a quiet click. McCree slipped through the mountains, and headed east.


End file.
